Chapter 8: Unspoken Words

The next few days felt like they were spent in a haze. Emily could barely concentrate on her work, her thoughts constantly drifting back to that night. The kiss, the feelings, the connection she couldn't seem to shake—everything weighed on her. She found herself replaying their conversation over and over again in her head, wondering if they had both been fooling themselves.

Jack had been distant since their talk, focusing only on the project and giving Emily little more than a nod when they passed each other in the halls. But his presence, even in silence, was palpable. Emily couldn't ignore the way her heart fluttered every time she saw him, the way her mind kept drifting back to the moments they'd shared.

One morning, as they reviewed the final design plans in the conference room, the air was thick with unspoken tension. Emily could feel Jack's gaze on her, but she refused to meet his eyes, afraid of what she might find.

The team was scattered around the table, discussing minor changes to the layout. Emily was deep in thought, adjusting her notes when she felt Jack's presence next to her. She glanced up to find him standing just a few inches away, his green eyes focused on her, intense and unwavering.

"Emily," he said quietly, his voice soft but insistent. "We need to talk."

Her heart skipped a beat. She nodded, her pulse quickening. As the others continued to talk around them, Emily felt like the world had narrowed down to just the two of them. Jack moved slightly closer, lowering his voice so only she could hear.

"I don't want to make things awkward between us," Jack said, his tone low and earnest. "I just… I can't stop thinking about what happened between us."

Emily's breath hitched. Her mind screamed at her to say something—anything to push him away, to remind them both of their boundaries. But her heart, the part of her that had wanted this connection from the moment they met, told her to listen.

"Neither can I," she admitted, her voice barely a whisper. "But we can't let it change things."

Jack exhaled deeply, his expression a mixture of frustration and longing. "I don't know if I can ignore it, Emily. This thing between us… it's not just going to disappear."

The words hung in the air, heavy with implication. Emily felt the walls around her heart start to crumble, but she quickly shoved them back up, her head racing with thoughts of consequences and complications.

"We'll figure it out," she said, her voice firmer now, though her chest felt tight with unspoken emotions. "We just have to stay focused. On the work."

Jack looked at her for a long moment, searching her face for something—maybe an answer, maybe a sign that she was willing to take the risk too. But in the end, he simply nodded.

"Okay," he said, his voice strained. "We'll focus on the work."

But deep down, Emily knew that neither of them could just focus on the work anymore. The lines between them had been blurred, and there was no turning back.